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SCHOOL TESTS FOR SCHOOL GRADING AND MEAS- 
URES OF INTELLIGENCE 

By Mary F.^Moran ) |-U w i» 
^ ^ i» i 

//ead Teacher, Mass. School for the Feeble-Minded, 
Waverley, Mass. 

In placing a newly admitted feeble-minded pupil in school work, 
before the use of psychological tests, we had to depend entirely 
on long-drawn out school examinations in reading, arithmetic, 
spelling, etc., in order to find out just what work he was capable 
of doing and in which grade or class he should be placed. For 
this purpose we used the most familiar and commonly known text 
books on the various subjects — Colburn's arithmetic, Rice's speller, 
Aldine or Progressive course in reading, etc. For instance in read- 
ing, a boy would be asked to read a little in the 1st reader, the 2nd 
reader and the 3rd reader, until the limit of his knowledge of read- 
ing was reached. In the same way, in number work he would be 
asked to write simple numbers, then more difficult ones, then to 
add; multiply; and divide until the limit of his arithmetical 
knowledge was apparent* In spelling, writing, etc., the same 
method was employed. This plan required the use of several text 
books for each pupil, took much time and was a tedious and labo- 
rious task. The method could not be well standardized and, in 
fact, no two children were given the same examination and the 
results with different children were not comparable in any way. It 
has not been found practical to use this trial and error text book 
method of school examination for school grading, or for the exam- 
ination of large numbers of children. 

The modern psychometric findings tell the teacher approxi- 
mately what grade of school work the individual defective is ca- 
pable of doing at the time of , examination, but this information is 
only approximately correct as all defectives of the same mental 
age are not capable of doing the same grade of school work. For 
instance, the majority of our pupils with a mental age of 8 years 



are in the 3rd grade, but we also have 2 in the 1st grade; 9 in the 
2nd grade and 2 in the 4th grade. The Binet test does not tell us 
in which school grade to place the child. 

In diagnosis, also, there is a definite need of exact knowledge of 
the child's ability to do school work. This need is especially felt 
in an out-patient mental clinic dealing with children, for many of 
these children or adolescents are borderline or doubtful cases, 
where the mental age is not sufficiently below the normal average 
to be conclusive and where information in as many fields as possi- 
ble is necessary in order properly to judge the mentality of the 
individual. With these defective children the scholastic perform- 
ance is most important, especially as to their ability to do the 
practical arithmetical computations usually done by children of 
their own age and opportunity; their ability to read and to under- 
stand what they have read. 

Within a few years several carefully worked out educational 
scales have been formulated and applied to large numbers of 
school children; among the best known are the Ayres hand- writ- 
ing and spelling scale; the Buckingham spelling scale; the Courtis 
arithmetic, writing and reading scale; the Gray reading scale; the 
Starch reading and spelling scale; the Woody arithmetic scale and 
the Trabue language scale. 

It is rather difficult to apply any of these scales to the testing 
of individual children — normal or feeble-minded — either for 
school grading or for diagnostic purposes. Indeed most of the 
scales mentioned seem to deal with the average or percental 
achievements of an entire school grade or class rather than with 
the work of an individual child. Most of the scales do not have 
a definite or easily applied rating for each school grade. It would 
take too long to give and score any entire scale to any one pupil. 
The result of the test would not give definite information as to the 
exact school grade or division of a grade in which the pupil be- 
longs, — as I A or II B, and so on, which is precisely the informa- 
tion we wish to know. Finally, the majority of the above tests do 
not test a child below third or fourth grade ability, and it is in the 
first four grades that most of the feeble-minded children are found. 

For the above reasons it seemed necessary to arrange a more 



LIBRARY OF.CO^Gfliss 
Receiv£o: 

<JUU '5*1922 






simple school test than any of the existing ones. A test is needed 
which will measure the child's proficiency in reading, writing, 
arithmetic, spelling, language and geography; and which will state 
the results in each subject in terms corresponding to the various 
public school grades. 

We can then say of a given boy that he does 3rd grade reading; 
2nd grade arithmetic; 4th grade spelling, etc. This test should be 
one that can be given by a well trained teacher in a relatively short 
time, and where there will be only one correct answer to a ques- 
tion, thus simplifying the scoring. 

To meet the above conditions we have formulated a series of 
test questions in each subject taught in each grade. The difficulty 
of each question corresponds to the work done in that grade. The 
various questions were compiled from standard text books and 
from our own experience, to represent the work required in the 
various grades in the public schools of Boston, Worcester and other 
cities. 

The standard varies somewhat in the different cities according 
to age at school entrance, and the grade at which geography and 
arithmetic are begun. These slight variations seem to make little 
difference in the final results. The first draft of the test was made 
four years ago, and it has been in constant use since that time, 
and has been applied to over 3000 children. The questions were 
kept in a fluid state for over three years, various questions being 
added or dropped, made easy or more difficult, or varied in some 
other way. 

The tests are given individually rather than as a group test, as 
they were formulated to test newly-admitted children, and children 
in the out-patient and school clinics, rather than entire classes. It 
takes from twenty minutes to half an hour to give the test, depend- 
ing upon the grade the child is in. With children above the 5th 
grade it takes from 10 to 15 minutes longer than with children 
below the 5th grade. 

The various test questions explain themselves. In the first grade, 
the child is asked to read simple declarative sentences, such as "I 
can see," and other sentences of like difficulty; in the second grade, 



such sentences as "The long summer vacation is coming,"; in the 
third grade, a more difficult sentence, as "The summit of a volcano 
is shaped like a great bowl, and is called a crater," etc. 

From three to six steps are used in each grade in arithmetic. 
In the 1st grade, the child is asked to count by l's, 2's, 5's, 10's, 
to 50, to do number combinations in addition and subtraction to 
10, as 2 -(- 2, 5+4, 7 — 3, etc. ; in the 2nd grade to count by 
l's, 2's, 5's, 10's, to 100; to do number combinations in addition, 
subtraction, multiplication, and division, to 20; in the 3rd grade 
to add 4 numbers of 3 figures each, as 102 227 342 135; 
to multiply figures by 1 figure, as 1346 x 6; to subtract 342 from 
795; to do short division, as 583 3; and to do a one-step reason 
problem. 

In spelling, six words are used in each grade. The first-grade 
words are dog, boy, man, book, sing, play; the second-grade 
words are jump, about, water, pencil, father, bright; the third- 
grade words, church, winter, picture, company, November, break- 
fast ; etc. 

Similar grading as to difficulty is used in the writing, lang- 
uage and geography problems. 

In giving the test, if the child is in the 2nd or 3rd grade in 
school, we usually begin by asking him to write his name, and 
then work forward or backward from the second-grade level, ac- 
cording to his ability. With an obviously young or dull child, 
the examination would begin at the first grade. Judging from the 
child's ability in writing, we know at what point to begin each 
subject. For instance, if the child is able to do 3rd grade writing, 
begin on that level in all other subjects. If in any one of these 
subjects the child is not able to do the 3rd grade work, drop back 
in this subject until he does give the correct response, and work 
forward as long as any correct responses are given in any one of 
the subjects. In this way a scattering will often be found cover- 
ing several grades, as 4th grade reading; 1st grade arithmetic; 
3rd grade spelling; 2nd grade language; 3rd grade writing and 
geography. In some schools arithmetic is not taught in the 1st 
grade and where this is true the arithmetic test should be omitted. 
In schools where only concrete arithmetic is taught in the 1st grade 
the arithmetic test may be given in a concrete form. 



In scoring, each question is marked, making a plus sign for 
every question correctly answered and a minus sign for every 
question incorrectly answered. A plus is given in reading where 
every word in the sentence is correctly pronounced, for while 
we take comprehension into account there are so many different 
degrees of comprehension — depending upon training and experi- 
ence, that it would be unfair to judge by this alone. In writing, 
from the 1st to the 4th grades, a plus sign is given for the accur- 
ate doing of the test; beginning with the 5th grade mark for speed, 
legibility, spacing of words and letters, and punctuation. 

In all other subjects, answers must be absolutely correct to 
be given a plus. Full credits are not expected in any grade until 
the end of the school year. The plus or minus sign should be 
placed opposite each question. The scoring can be done more 
easily and quickly if a red pencil is used. 

The possibility of coaching by over-anxious parents or teach- 
ers should be considered. Besides applying these tests to over 
3000 children in our own out-patient clinic and to newly admitted 
children, they have now been used with over 1000 pupils in the 
State public-school clinics in Massachusett's cities and towns. The 
test questions were displayed as little as possible, but they became 
matters of general knowledge to the teachers in the schools where 
the tests were being made. In no case had the child any knowledge 
of the questions to be asked. If necessary, 6 or 10 alternate ques- 
tions could be prepared in each subject in each grade, making 
coaching practically impossible. 

In giving our tests to large numbers of defective children, 
many morons are revealed who are verbalists, whose reading or 
spelling is equal to the 7th or 8th grade work, but who have a 
profound ignorance of other school work. The school tests have 
proved a valuable asset in the diagnosis of these doubtful prob- 
lems. 

The tests have also revealed that, with very few exceptions, 
the children tested follow quite evenly on the level of their mental 
age in arithmetic language and geography. This is especially note- 
worthy with arithmetic. The marked variations from the mental 
age level come in reading, spelling and writing. 

For a child who has been in school, the correlation between 



the school age and the mental age is high. The average normal 
child enters the 1st grade at 6; the second grade at 7; the 3rd grade 
at 8; the 4th grade at 9. The school grade reached almost invar- 
iably corresponds to the proper grade for the actual age of the 
child. The feeble-minded child, if he has had good school oppor- 
tunities, is usually able to do work in a school grade correspond- 
ing not to his chronological age but to his mental age. In fact, 
in the great majority of cases, we can almost predict from the 
school test what the mental age will be; that is, a child usually 
gets from his school experience just about what the mental age 
will be; that is, a child usually gets from his school experience 
just about what he is theoretically capable of understanding. 
However, in from 5 to 10% of the children examined we find an 
unexplainable exception to this rule, where the children are found 
to be either above or below the grade for their mental age. 

In our school clinics, especially, we find that the children who 
have been in the grade classes for three or four or five years, 
accomplishing nothing from the standpoint of the teacher, have 
nevertheless picked up from the school work an ability to read, 
to do arithmetic, etc., up to and including the school grade approx- 
imately corresponding to their mental age. The above presup- 
poses a knowledge and understanding of the use of the English 
language on the part of the child. It is also necessary to exclude 
impaired hearing or impaired vision. 

The School tests for the different grades are as follows: 

First Grade 

1. Reading: 

I can see. I can see the ball. 
The horses are in the barn. 

2. Arithmetic: 

Count by l's, 2's, 5's, 10's, to 50. 

If I had 5 marbles and find 3 more, how many shall I have 
in all? 

3. Spelling : 

dog, boy, man, book, sing, play. 



4. Writing : 

Copy — 4, 2, 6, a, c, i, g. 

5. Language : 

Make a sentence about a familiar object. 

Use a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence. 

Second Grade 
1 m Reading: 

John ran to the brook. 

Grandpa makes hay in the meadow. 

The long summer vacation is coming. 

2L Arithmetic: 

Count by l's, 2's, 5's, 10's, to 100. 

If 1 apple costs 5 cents, how much will 3 apples cost? 

3. Spelling : 

jump, about, water, pencil, father, bright. 

4. Writing: 
Write name. 

Copy — I can see the ball. 

5. Language : 

Use a period at the close of a statement. 

Use a question mark at the close of a question. 

Use capital letter rules for months, and names of persons. 

Third Grade 

1. Reading: 

The summit of a volcano is shaped like a great bowl, and is 
called a crater. 

2. Arithmetic: 
Add 

Multiply 
Subtract 
Short division, 

At 10 cents a dozen, how many dozen tea-rolls can you buy 
for 50 cents? 



3. Spelling: 

Church, winter, picture, company, November, breakfast. 

4. Writing : 

Dictate — The boys are making a kite. 

5. Geography : 

Name the seasons). Where does the sun rise? Name the 
races of men. To what races do the Eskimo, Indian, and 
Japanese people belong? 

6. Language : 

Use capital letter rules for holidays, streets, cities, and titles 
Know abbreviations for Mr., Mrs., Ave., and Dr. 

Fourth Grade 

1. Reading: 

The surface of Italy varies greatly in different parts of the 
peninsula. 

2. Arithmetic: 
Add 
Subtract 
Multiply 
Long division, 

If I have a $1.00 bill and buy apples for 15 cents and 
bananas for 50 cents, how much change shall I have left? 

3. Spelling: 

Lantern, envelope, journey, mountain, remember, forenoon. 

4. Writing : 

Write name and address correctly. 

5. Geography: 

Define — mountain, river, plain, volcano. 
Name the products and industries of U.S.A. 

6. Language : 

Know abbreviations for gt., pt., hr., Mon., yd., pk., Mass., 

mi., sq. ft., Capt. 
Use capital letters in abbreviations Mr., Dr., Ave., St., Aunt, 

Uncle, when followed by a name. 

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Fifth Grade 

1. Reading: 

Penn graciously accepted these offerings, and made a noble 
use of his authority over his province. 

2. Arithmetic: 

Multiply 
Divide 

From a bolt of cloth a clerk sold 2-5 at one time and 1-4 at 
another. How much of it was left? 

3. Spelling: 

Machine, volcano, laundry, understand, important, agricul- 
ture. 

4. Writing : 

Write name and address correctly. 

5. Geography: 

Name oceans, rivers, cities of U.S.A. 

Name New England States. Name Western States. 

6. Language : 

Use in a sentence — an, their, had seen, have written, too, 
these. 

Sixth Grade 

1. Reading: 

The gentlemen distributed the property among an inferior 
class of proprietors, some of whom cultivated the land 
themselves, and others by means of husbandmen and peas- 
ants. 

2. Arithmetic: 

I have a $2.00 bill and buy 2 boxes of raisins at 16 cents a 
box, and 4 lbs. of rice at 12 cents a lb. How much money 

is left? 
How much cloth at 25 cents a yd. is worth a barrel of sugar 
containing 195 lbs. at 10 cents a lb.? 
If a horse eats 1% pks. of oats a day, how long will 22^ 

pks. last? 
Add and reduce to a mixed number 



3. Spelling : 

Camera, journal, customer, material, impossible, exclamation. 

4. Writing : 

Write name and address correctly. 

5. Geography: 

Name countries of Europe. Name the products and indus- 
tries of Europe. Name the mountain ranges and rivers of 
Europe. In which hemisphere is Europe? 

6. Language : 

Which is correct — 
You were, or you was 
Let me go, or leave me go 
There are, or them are 
It is I, or it is me 
I did, or I done 
Shall we, or will we 
Shall I, or will I 

Use in a sentence — 
Are there 
There is 
knew 
anything 
nothing 

Seventh Grade 

1. Reading: 

So rapid was the progress of the light vessels that the lake 
curled in their front, in miniature waves, and their motion 
became undulating by its own velocity. 

2. Arithmetic : 

Find the interest on $600 for 4 yrs. at 6%. 

If a man pays $3.00 per mo. for milk and this is 4% of his 

table expenses for the mo., what are his table expenses? 
A house that cost $8450 was sold for $11,000. What % was 

gained? 

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3. Spelling: 

Diameter, introduce, comparison, brilliant, literature, infor- 
mation 

4. Writing : 

Write name and address correctly. 

5. Geography: 

In which zone does Africa lie? Why are the rivers of Africa 
navigable for so short a distance? Of what type are the 
natives of Africa? Compare Asia with the other continents 
as to size, density of population, and climate. 

6. Language : 

Recognizes — noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition. 
Use a phrase in a sentence. 



Eighth Grade 

1. Reading: 

It was too obvious now that their situation was imminently 
perilous, to need the aid of language to confirm it. 

2. Arithmetic: 

If a person can walk 8 4-7 mi. in 2 1-3 hrs., how many miles 

can he walk in 3*4 hrs.? 
A rectangular field is 40 rods long and 35 rods wide. What 

is its area? How much is it worth at $80 per acre? 
Find the interest on $1750 from May 5, 1920, to June 21, 

1921, at 5i/ 2 %. 

3. Spelling : 

Argument, miscellaneous, distinguish, investigate, thermom- 
eter, extraordinary. 

4. Writing : 

Write name and address correctly. 

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Geography: 
In what way has the Chinese religion hindered the progress 

of the nation? 
To what is the rapid growth of North America due? 
Why is irrigation necessary in the Western States, and what 

effect has it had upon their development? 
Give some reasons why Argentina is the most progressive 

country of South America. 

Language : 

Make a complex sentence. 
John's brother has given him your book. 
Parse — brother, him, your, has given. 



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